Davis v. State

Leon Davis (defendant) robbed an insurance agency. During the robbery, Davis bound Yvonne Bustamante and her coworker with duct tape, poured gasoline on them, and lit the building on fire. Bustamante and her coworker were severely burned, but they escaped the building. Police officer Joe Elrod responded to the scene and took Bustamante’s statement while she was waiting for medical evacuation. Bustamante and her coworker later died from their injuries, and Davis was charged with murder. Before trial, Davis moved to exclude Bustamante’s statement from evidence. At an evidentiary hearing on Davis’s motion, Elrod testified that when he first saw Bustamante at the scene, he noticed that she was severely burned and believed that she was not likely to survive. Elrod therefore started asking Bustamante questions to take her statement. Bustamante told Elrod that she and her coworker were working when Davis walked in and demanded money, and that he threw gasoline on them and lit them on fire when they would not give him what he wanted. When Elrod asked Bustamante if she knew the robber, she said, “[Y]es, it was Leon Davis.” Bustamante told Elrod that Davis was a client of the insurance agency. Other witnesses testified at the hearing that they overheard Bustamante describing the events to Elrod and identifying Davis. Medical personnel testified about Bustamante’s physical condition, and one witness said she heard Bustamante say that she was going to die. The trial court ruled that Bustamante’s statements were a dying declaration and admitted the statements at trial through Elrod’s and the other witnesses’ testimony. Davis was convicted of murder and sentenced to death, and he appealed to the Florida Supreme Court.